Okay, that’s not quite how Food Network Star host Bobby Flay phrased it. But that’s probably what the six remaining contestants were thinking as the show’s setting shifted from laid-back Los Angeles to high-strung New York for the rest of the season’s run. Hey, if you can make it here, you can…well, you know the drill.

And what a drill this week was, filled with a couple of devilish challenges and a growing awareness that at this stage of the game, it’s hard to survive a bad outing. In other words, this might not be the week to unveil to the world your concept of an Italian hero sandwich reconceived as a cupcake.

Here’s our rundown.

This week’s challenges: It was a grinding two-parter. First, contestants met with Ina Garten of “Barefoot Contessa” fame and were charged with coming up with their version of a signature cupcake – in much the same way Garten helped build her career on a coconut cupcake recipe. Then, it was on to the Rachael Ray show, where contestants got to introduce themselves and do a three-minute cooking demo.

Flub of the night: In the last few weeks, Vic “Vegas” Moea has radiated culinary confidence at almost every turn. So we were shocked to see him return to his old stomping ground of New York and turn into such a lost soul. His big flub came with his choice of dish to prepare on the Ray program: an excessive creation that featured leftover lasagna stuffed inside a tortilla and then fried – like a Mexican chimichanga. Or “la-changa,” as Vic dubbed it. “La-disaster” was more like it. “It’s the weirdest dish I’ve ever seen,” said Bobby Flay.

Line of the night: Culinary instructor Jyll Everman has never had a firm grasp on her concept – or POV, as the judges like to put it. When she tried to summarize it this week, she stumbled her way through an explanation: “I’m more of the girl on a budget, um, sense of humor, fun, relatable, entertaining girl. Maybe.” It was as if stream-of-consciousness babbling was considered a necessary skill for a celeb chef.

The dish we’d most like to try: C’mon, let’s be honest: As over-the-top as it sounds, a dish of lasagna stuffed inside a tortilla and then deep fried has a certain hideously high-caloric appeal. Can we convince Vic to make it for us – just once?

Stars in the making: Jeff “Sandwich King” Mauro may have screwed up with the first challenge – he was the creator of that aforementioned Italian hero “cupcake.” But he came back incredibly strong with his Rachael Ray segment, where his background as a professional comedian served him incredibly well. He’s now our chef to beat. Plus, given how uncomfortable Vic “Vegas” looked on the Ray show, we can’t quite consider him the front-runner he once was. Finally, engineer-turned-chef Whitney Chen had another strong week – she made a coconut cupcake that particularly pleased Garten as a kind of Contessa homage — so she seems to be edging out Mexican-inspired chef Susie Jimenez for the final three spots.

Who went this week: Jyll seemed doomed last week when Wolfgang Puck had to show her how to make a proper risotto. This week, she couldn’t turn things around – see above re stream-of-consciousness babbling — so her axing became inevitable.

Who will go next week: Food writer Mary Beth Albright has survived until this point because… well, because we don’t know why. She’s not a particularly inventive or inspiring cook. And she’s not all that “real,” either – she kinda strikes us like a career changer who suddenly glommed on to the gourmet craze. We thought she would have been gone a few weeks ago. But now is definitely her turn.

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.